


We could all be good

by armchairaloof



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Everybody Lives, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Order 66 Didn't Happen (Star Wars), aftermath of war, but in a (mostly) fun way!, but this is definitely a happy ending household, okay more angst than i was anticipating ha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29870445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armchairaloof/pseuds/armchairaloof
Summary: There's something to be said for peacetime, even if there are a few bumps along the way. And while Ahsoka and Rex try to pick up the pieces of the galaxy, it seems like everyone else has washed their hands of the conflict that brought them all together. Maybe words just come easier when you're not sure if they'll be your last.A little rom, a little com, and a lot of coming to the slow realization that you can finally relax after the chaos is over.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, background Padme Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 16
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be another fun little one-shot. An "after they win the war and everybody's happy" kind of deal. But then too many words later and I realized that this was not a one-shot. We're not touching main plot here, so please fill in your favorite "Palpatine is discovered/gets killed early and the Republic and Separatists agree to disagree peacefully" explanation. I'm just here for that sweet, sweet Fluff and Humor tag. Now with a side of discussions about war crimes.

Padmé glanced away from the committee meeting notes in front of her to confirm that her holocall had finally connected, then went back to rereading the section summary she’d been trying to wrap her head around for the last ten minutes. It was no use. She would never understand what myopic loss aversion practices in agricultural markets of the Mid Rim had to do with banking reforms in the Senate.

“Ahsoka?” she finally asked since it seemed the recipient of her call was content to remain silent. Padmé pursed her lips as the staticky sound of Coruscant’s infamous wind tunnels filled the room. “Are you out on the balcony?”

“Huh?” Ahsoka said loudly, sounding distracted herself. “Oh, yeah I’m outside. Fresh air and all that.”

Padmé’s eyebrows lifted in a poor substitute for an eyeroll, but she was still reading the inane flowery language of the meeting report and couldn’t afford to take her eyes off the datapad for fear of losing her place.

“Well when you get inside, could you look up the contact information for the twins’ gymnastics instructor? I can’t find my—“ The unmistakable roar of an engine cut her off, sounding like Ahsoka’s comm was right next to it for how loud it was. Padmé tore her gaze away from yet another complaint about price gouging and narrowed her eyes at Ahsoka’s holoimage. “Ahsoka,” she began suspiciously once the noise had died down again, “where are you?”

And now that her full attention was on the flickering blue form projected above her desk, Padmé noticed that Ahsoka seemed… off somehow. She wasn’t one to demand everyone be as perfectly put together as she had to be as a public representative, but she didn’t think it was rude to say that Ahsoka was looking a bit disheveled in this particular moment. Her clothes hung off her in odd ways and her lekku were swaying awkwardly, the tips curling upwards almost like—

“Are you upside down?!”

A sheepish smile crept onto Ahsoka’s face. Her mouth opened to respond, likely with some half-baked explanation, but then something must have caught her attention off camera. Ahsoka’s eyes darted up—well, down, Padmé supposed—and her face smoothed out as she concentrated on something. Padmé had seen that look on Anakin, and now the twins, enough times to know that whatever she was planning was trouble.

“ _Ahsoka_ , do not even _think_ about—!”

“Sorry, Padmé!”

The image jolted, and though she couldn’t see any of Ahsoka’s surroundings, Padmé could practically feel the empty abyss of sky she was hurtling herself into. Rushing wind whipped around Ahsoka, occasionally buffeting the young woman this way or that as Padmé assumed she twisted in her descent to avoid some harrowing obstacle or another.

Padmé rolled her eyes for real this time, taking the time to wring every last ounce of satisfaction from her exasperated sigh as she did so. Really, what had she expected when she married a Jedi? Her husband was just as reckless as his former padawan, probably more so despite his supposed maturity, and now she had two almost-four-year-olds who definitely already favored their paternal lineage’s proclivity for giving her a damn heart attack every five minutes. At least Obi-Wan made an effort to rein in his more idiotic tendencies for bodily harm.

The comm went dark for a second and Padmé felt a brief flare of guilt for her flippant attitude as she heard Ahsoka slam into something. But then the view was changing again as Ahsoka lifted her wrist and Padmé saw that she had landed safely in the open cab of a speeder. A speeder helmed by—

“Oh for goodness sake, Obi-Wan! You too?!”

Her own damn fault indeed.

Obi-Wan hardly seemed surprised to have Ahsoka drop in on him—quite literally—or for a hologram of Padmé to accompany her. “Good morning, Senator,” he greeted her pleasantly, and the fact that they were being so blasé about this actually helped her remain calm as well, as much as she hated to admit it. Though she really wished he hadn’t diverted his eyes away from the air lane in front of him to address her.

“They passed by about thirty seconds before you did,” Ahsoka announced as she righted herself in the seat.

“Excellent. Well, it won’t be long now.”

Padmé could only see the inside of the speeder and its occupants, but judging by their sudden lurches and leans, it was going quite fast in and out of turns as they zoomed through the city.

“Do I want to know?” she asked them after a half minute of this. Ahsoka startled as if she’d forgotten she was still on an ongoing holocall and Padmé’s earlier guilt evaporated as it was once again replaced by annoyance. “Or is this a plausible deniability situation?”

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan shared a look—again distracting him from flying—and Padmé could practically feel the gray hairs sprouting on her head.

“Well, a report came over the line,” Ahsoka began. She at least had the decency to look apologetic.

One of the biggest regrets of Padmé’s short life was agreeing to the installation of a secure military comm terminal in her apartment. _Just for emergencies_ , Anakin had said. _You won’t even know it’s there_. Well she knew it was there, all right. C3PO might as well set a spot at the table for that damn comm for how often the occupants of her apartment chattered with it.

“And since I’m technically on backup for the Guard this rotation while Vos is offworld, and it was _right_ nearby…”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes—or maybe the whole speeder rolled because suddenly his hair was standing on end and Ahsoka’s lekku pointed upside down again.

“She made the mistake of answering the call in front of Anakin,” he said as if it explained everything. “So naturally he jumped off the balcony without hearing the full details of the report.”

Padmé could unfortunately picture that very clearly in her mind without much effort at all. She decided not to though, for the sake of her marriage.

“So then I got a bike and caught up with him…” Ahsoka trailed off as she mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like _explosion_ , then finished brightly, “Obi-Wan stayed behind to watch the little’uns until backup got to the apartment, and now we’re here!”

“Ignoring the part where you were hanging upside down somewhere above a speeder lane.” Padmé rubbed at her temple tiredly before shaking her head to clear it of the Jedi ridiculousness she was engaging in. “No, you know what? I don’t care. Wasn’t this supposed to be your day off, Ahsoka? Don’t answer that. Just— be home for dinner and tell Anakin he might as well get that droid part he needs while he’s out. The little wheely-do-whatever-it’s-called.”

“A helical gear?”

Padmé shrugged and waved a dismissive hand. “Sure.”

Ahsoka’s head tilted in thought. “Or is he using a drive belt—"

“Who’s in charge at the apartment?”

“Kix, in theory,” Obi-Wan answered. “Though Leia was already giving him a good challenge for the title by the time I left.”

“As she should.” Padmé nodded decisively. At least someone felt in control of their situation at the moment. “Well…”

What was the proper way to sign off from a holocall during an active pursuit? Should she say something military like ‘over and out?’ Or maybe the old Jedi standby, ‘may the Force be with you...’

In the end the decision was made for her when both driver and occupant muttered the same swear in Huttese and the line finally severed. Honestly, she was surprised the conversation had lasted this long. She pinged the comm again and got a response immediately, so she wasn’t _too_ worried. They probably just finally did a maneuver that took them out of range or swerved to avoid something with enough force to press the end transmission button on Ahsoka’s comm.

She’d check the news reports for mentions of idiotic Jedi after she called Kix.

* * *

“You know—”

A chorus of identical groans drowned out whatever was said next, only varying in their degree of annoyance directed at Echo. The twins laughed gleefully and clapped their pudgy hands together.

Ahsoka glanced at Anakin sitting next to her on the low couch. “What’s going on?”

He waved a hand distractedly toward the group behind them. Kix snatched his arm back and glared at him, the bandage around her former master’s elbow already coming undone. “Echo’s been telling jokes,” Anakin explained, his eyes still closed in exhaustion from chasing an escaped prisoner halfway across Coruscant. He winced as Kix rewrapped the bandage tighter around his arm.

Ahsoka pulled her knees under her and twisted to look behind the back of the couch. The gathered men formerly of the 501st were currently sat in too-small chairs as they pretended to drink tea served by Luke and Leia.

“So?” she asked.

It was Kix who answered her this time, still not looking up from Anakin’s arm as he told her in a bored tone, “He thinks humor is the best way to understand civvie life, sir. Jokes about not knowing what holoprogram to watch after a day of getting a fair wage at a job you weren’t born into service for.” He tied off the wrap, a little more forcefully than necessary if Anakin’s grunt of pained indignation was anything to go by. “That sort of thing.”

Ahsoka frowned and looked back at the miniature tea table.

“I know for a _fact_ that you’ve never even been to a zoo, _vod_ ,” Jesse was saying. “How could you know what kind of food they give the animals?”

Echo brightened and shared an exaggerated wink with Luke who giggled without seeming to know that he was in on the joke. “I’m not talking about the food for the animals, I’m talking about the food they serve to the visitors!”

His own laughter was only topped by the twins’ delighted screeches.

“They don’t know what he’s talking about, they just like anything that sounds like a joke.” Now that Kix was done tending to his injuries, Anakin was fading. His features relaxed and his words were half mumbled. She glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled fondly. Four years out of active duty and he got winded from a little chase. Pathetic.

Kix sat back on his heels and began to pack up his medkit. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard one of Echo’s jokes, sir. He’s been working on them for the better part of the last six-month.”

She hadn’t heard them because she hadn’t seen him in longer than that. Hadn’t seen any of her old friends from the 501st.

“Guess I haven’t been around enough.” She missed the frown Kix sent her way as she continued to watch the twins playing and laughing with the men.

The tone announcing a visitor at the apartment’s front door sounded, drawing the clones’ attention. She noticed Jesse’s hand twitch to his torso where she guessed he had a weapon hidden. Ahsoka didn’t turn; the Force sent no particular warning and she had long ago learned to appreciate when it was quiet.

“Commander Rex!” Jesse and the others relaxed at C3PO’s exclamation upon opening the door, while Ahsoka stiffened instead. “How good of you to come! Please allow me to take your jacket, sir.”

“Er, no thanks, Threepio,” came the awkward reply.

Ahsoka flopped back down into the couch cushions and jabbed her elbow into Anakin’s side. “Why didn’t you tell me Rex was coming!”

“Wha—?” He rubbed at his side as he blinked dazedly at her. “Didn’t I mention that?”

“You did _not_ ,” she whispered back furiously.

Anakin sighed and closed his eyes again. “Still don’t get what the big deal is with you guys.”

“The _big deal_ is that he hasn’t spoken to me in over a year.”

“That can’t be right… He’s been over here plenty of times—

“Not when I’m here.”

“And you were both at the twins’ birthday party—”

“He left before the cake was cut.”

“Sirs, if I may?”

They stopped their bickering to shift their eyes to the medic still kneeling in front of them.

“Kix, you really gotta stop calling us that,” Anakin said around a yawn. “Neither of us are your superior officer anymore.”

“Sorry, old habit.”

Ahsoka couldn’t help her wince at that. She was beginning to think the clones would always see them as their superiors, a depressing thought that brought her mind back to Rex.

“Sorry,” Kix said again a little more sincerely after seeing her reaction. “It’s just that, well, Rex is a bit old school, even more than the rest of us probably. I think the transition was harder on him.”

Ahsoka frowned. “But he stayed in the GAR. I heard he’s even stationed at headquarters when he’s not out on patrols in contested space.”

Anakin lifted an eyebrow at that, and okay, she hadn’t meant to play her hand that obviously. But it’s not like she just _wasn’t_ going to know what he was doing these days. It was Rex! Her best friend! Well, probably her former best friend at this point, seeing as they hadn’t said more than a few passing words to each other since she left the military officially.

“Point is, sir— _Ahsoka_ , sorry. Point is, most of us left the GAR when the clone rights went through. Hell, Rex is the only one left from Torrent in the service, I think. Not counting Fives and Echo, but we don’t really, since they’re usually off doing gods know what for the special forces. The military is a different thing altogether now.”

“He’s right,” Anakin agreed, sounding more alert now. “It’s a lot different. And I’m just a glorified spokesperson now. Imagine what it must be like for Rex still actually out there fighting what’s left of the good fight.”

A fresh wave of guilt washed over as she sat back in a more natural position on the couch again. The problem was that she _could_ imagine was it like because she was living it herself. She may not be in the GAR now, but most of the assignments she completed for the Jedi Council were still somehow related to the war. Reestablishing peaceful relations, reaffirming galactic values, reassessing war-torn planets, _re_ doing a _lot_. But unless she was on Coruscant, she didn’t interact directly with the GAR. And even then it was usually just relaying information back and forth with the Guard when there was an issue like today where they asked for help, nothing about policy or overarching strategy. That wasn’t her place anymore. She was a Jedi, a peacekeeper. And she didn’t have the inclination nor the right to give military orders anymore. Which is the way she wanted it.

That didn’t mean she didn’t miss some parts of that life though. And some _people_ especially.

Dinner had apparently only been waiting on Rex’s presence, and with his arrival, Padmé began ushering everyone to the table. It was a raucous affair, as it usually was when any combination of Luke, Leia, Fives, and Echo were involved. Ahsoka spent most of dinner deep in conversation with Obi-Wan about a book he’d recently found in the Archives about an old Jedi Temple on a planet she was set to travel to in a few weeks on a different matter. She allowed herself to be successfully persuaded by her grandmaster to make an extra stop and pretended not to be saddened that he wouldn't have time to go with her.

And when plates were cleared and their visitors began to inch their way toward the door, Ahsoka finally breathed a guilty sigh of relief. She loved these men and always would. But as more and more time passed since the end of the war, the more she realized how terribly the clones had been treated. Were still treated. They died for her. For all of the Republic, but especially for the Jedi. And she knew she could’ve done better back then to protect them and honor their sacrifices.

Rex was the last to get up to leave, but when he finally stood from where he’d been having a faux-serious-looking talk with Luke about who knows what, Padmé halted him and the others in their tracks.

“Oh, would you all mind sticking around for a bit? We’ve got something we wanted to tell everyone at once.”

For one charged moment, Ahsoka’s eyes met Rex’s as he stood behind his chair. He almost seemed to be asking permission from her, but permission for what, she didn’t know. Then the moment passed and she quickly finished wiping the remnants of dinner off from Leia’s grubby hands and face.

Ahsoka offered to help put the twins to bed, usually one of her favorite things to do with them when she was here, but tonight it felt like a temporary stay of execution. Padmé refused to say anything more before they rejoined the others and Luke and Leia were of little help either, having been thoroughly worn out by the attentions of their _bavodu'e_. Their soft toddler snores filled the room long before the magical talking animal in the book she read them had even discovered the power of friendship in solving interpersonal communication issues.

Reluctantly, she returned to the living room with Padmé and sat in one of the too-comfortable armchairs with her knees pulled up to her chin.

“As you all know,” Padmé addressed the room without preamble, “my term in the Senate will be up soon.” She grasped Anakin’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “And I’ve been asked to return to Naboo as an adviser to the Queen.”

Rounds of congratulations and well wishes greeted her announcement, and Padmé accepted them graciously. Ahsoka’s body froze as her mind processed the news.

“Coruscant is still a little overwhelming for me, too,” Anakin added with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “My headaches have been getting worse lately.”

Ahsoka knew he had trouble filtering out all the conflicting feelings and pushes from the Force, but she hadn’t realized it was still too much for him. She’d attributed his tiredness and relative weakness in the Force to the stress of being a parent, not pain from constant psychic pressure. She should have noticed.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Anakin assured them all a little too quickly. His gaze lingered on Ahsoka for longer than it did anyone else and she wondered that he could still pick up on her emotions even when he was apparently blocking out the constant noise of the planet around them. “The Queen has offered me a position in the Naboo air corps. I’ll get to work on anything I like. Ship building and training pilots— or whatever, really...”

“That’s great, General!” someone exclaimed, while someone else clapped him on the back.

He looked… excited. Eager to be doing something for himself in a way that Ahsoka was ashamed to say she hadn’t seen from him in too long.

“I’m happy for you,” she told him sincerely.

Anakin smiled, and this time it seemed to radiate out from him. He’d been worried about her reaction, she thought sadly. “Thanks, Snips. And don’t worry, we’re not leaving Coruscant forever. I’m still technically in the reserves for the GAR, and Obi-Wan’s still a Council member—”

“Obi-Wan is going too?” Her eyes widened as she swiveled to look to her grandmaster.

“Er, well—” Obi-Wan fidgeted guiltily and in flash of understanding, she realized that part wasn’t supposed to be made public just yet. “The Council has decided we need to decentralize. What Anakin has felt is right, Coruscant is an epicenter of activity and the chaos that surrounds it is only growing.”

“The Council is…”

“Still the Council,” Obi-Wan assured her. “We are just dispersing a little more deliberately throughout the galaxy. The Temple on Coruscant will always be the main Jedi Temple, but we have decided it is time to also reinhabit some of the other smaller Temples. At least for part of our time. We have been too close to the center of the galaxy for far too long and it has blinded us to certain goings on.”

Certain goings on like a Sith becoming Chancellor of the Republic.

“I see.”

She didn’t see, not really. But she understood the need to do _something_ so they wouldn’t be put in that situation again.

“And Anakin will need help with the twins’ training,” Obi-Wan continued like he was trying to convince himself along with her that this was the right thing to do. “When they’re older they’ll join an Initiate class, of course, but for now we all agree that it is in everyone’s best interests to keep them somewhat separate. Other Masters are doing the same with some of the younglings who show signs of needing different methods of teaching.”

Ahsoka nodded absentmindedly. “Of course.”

So they were leaving. Leaving her.

And that was okay. Really. She was hardly ever on Coruscant herself. Too busy running around the galaxy, trying to pick up the broken pieces this awful war left behind. Too busy trying to be the perfect Jedi. And even when she _was_ in the Capital, she was almost always stuck in meetings or researching some ancient evil in the Archives at the Temple—even though she felt like crawling out of her skin sometimes when she was within those walls for too long. But there was never enough time, it seemed. So much had fallen through the cracks in her life and she’d tried to hang on, she really did, but it always seemed like the harder she grasped, the more slipped through her fingers.

So maybe it was good they were moving to Naboo. It meant that when she did visit, she’d be forced to commit to really being there. No being on call on her day off, no jumping off buildings to chase Sith-sympathizers, no keeping one eye on comm traffic while she helped Anakin chop pieces of fruit into tiny toddler-sized pieces for her niece and nephew.

Or she would _try_ to be present while she visited, at least. And make an effort to visit as often as she could. But something would no doubt get in the way. Naboo wasn’t exactly a regular stopover for her. And eventually her visits would be fewer and farther between. The twins would grow up hearing stories about their Aunt Ahsoka but hardly know her. And after a while her welcome would run out. Maybe the real reason Jedi didn’t have families was because there just wasn’t enough time for them.

“Ahsoka?”

Her gaze refocused sharply, and she quickly glanced around the room to see most everyone staring back at her. She plastered a too-bright smile on her face. “Yeah?”

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Rex frowning at her, a stark contrast to his brothers sitting around them. The rest all looked surprised, but not overly shaken by the news. She could only imagine what Rex was thinking.

“I just said that if you wanted, you could keep living here,” Padmé said carefully. Ahsoka wondered how many times she’d tried to get her attention. “And we’ll still be coming back and forth too, so we’ll need to keep a residence here. I’ll be advising the representatives from Naboo from time to time, and Anakin or Obi-Wan will bring the twins to the Temple for regular training.”

Her words were meant to be reassuring. There was a plan, the words said. A plan to see her every few months… or perhaps years, however long apart their intended sojourns to Coruscant would be. A plan she didn’t realize was necessary until a few moments ago.

“Oh, don’t keep the apartment for my sake,” she said with what she hoped was a carefree chuckle. “I’m sure you’d want something smaller to have as a base on Coruscant. Easier to maintain between long stretches. I’m hardly here anyway, and I have a perfectly fine set of quarters at the Temple.”

A set of quarters that she wasn’t even sure she still had the correct passcode for.

Padmé was looking at her oddly. “Well, we don’t have to decide anything right this minute.”

“Of course.” Ahsoka gave her a tight smile, her façade of nonchalance slipping fast. Without consciously thinking through the action, she stood up abruptly and met the startled gazes of her friends. “I’m just going to get some air.”

Then she bolted from the room.


	2. Chapter 2

“Why was Grandmaster Yoda afraid of the number seven?”

“I don’t know, Echo, why was Yoda afraid of seven?”

“Because nine seven eight!”

Fives cocked his head to the side as he thought that one through. Rex tried to stifle a laugh behind the palm of his hand, but knew they’d catch it. One of the downsides of spending all your time with walking copies of your own genetic code was that they knew all your tells. Echo winked at him.

“A joke about single digit numbers and I wasn’t included?” Fives finally responded. “I’m offended.”

“Hmm. Good point.” Echo scribbled something down on the flimsipad he kept in one of the pockets of his cargo pants.

Rex wiped a hand across his face tiredly. “Why are you two in here again?”

They’d been sitting in his office bothering him for a quarter of an hour at this point and his headache was reaching its zenith.

“We’re killing time before we head over to the General’s for dinner.”

Rex eyed the combat boots resting on the edge of his desk and considered leaning over to the knock them off. Who knows what kind of filthy ground Fives was walking on these days.

“And your office was closer than our place,” Echo supplied without looking up from his notes.

“Well why don’t you just go to Skywalker’s now,” he grunted. “Kix at least is already there.”

“How d’you know that?”

Rex waved his hand distractedly toward the communicator on his desk. “Heard it over the wire. Kenobi called in for assistance.”

“If you heard the call, why didn’t _you_ go over?”

He snorted and leaned back in his creaking office chair. “I can’t just leave in the middle of the day to help babysit the mini generals.” The pile of briefings waiting in his inbox corroborated his excuse, though it still felt empty. “And besides, Kix answered it.”

“Kix, who is an actual _medic_.” Fives lifted one of his boots and for one hopeful second, Rex thought he was going to set his feet back on the floor where they belonged. But no, he just used the durasteel toe of the boot to point to Echo as if it was his hand. “A medic for civilians, I’ll give you that, but still. I’m sure he’s busy.”

“Yeah, well…” Rex grumbled indignantly. He didn’t actually have a comeback to that.

“But you’re right, if they’re already over there, we might as well head over too.” Echo flipped the flimsipad shut and stood. “I’ve got some new jokes for the little ones I wanna try out.”

“None of that banthacrap about the Jedi going to a bar with the Nightsister and the—” Fives snapped his fingers impatiently. “What was the third one?”

Echo sighed and rolled his eyes. “A rabbit, okay? I was trying something, and it didn’t work. You happy?”

Fives snickered and finally lowered his feet from the desk. “It doesn’t even make any sense. What’s a rabbit doing with them?”

“It was a play on words, I told you that!”

They shuffled toward the door, jostling each other good naturedly.

“You coming, Cap?”

Rex’s lips twitched. Officially he’d been a Commander for years now, but the title had never felt right for a variety of reasons. Fives and Echo were probably the only people in the GAR who still called him Captain. Which may have been a reason he put up with them.

“Nah, lots to do, remember?” He lifted a datapad at random for emphasis. “Tell them I’ll be there in time for dinner.”

“Okay, but no backing out at the last minute!”

“I won’t,” he assured them as they saluted him jauntily. The door slid shut behind them and Rex breathed a sigh of relief at the blessed quiet that settled over the room.

Skywalker had been insistent that he came tonight, which usually wasn’t an issue. Rex loved going over to the Senator’s apartment and playing with the little’uns. He supposed it wasn’t really just the Senator’s place these days though, with Skywalker not hiding their relationship anymore. Their reproduction saw to that. But it was also Kenobi and Tano’s place too now, though they seemed to still split time with the Temple, the latter more than the former.

Anakin had seemed jumpier than usual when he invited him the other day, wringing out a promise from him that he’d attend in a tone that seemed more fitting for a deathbed confession than a simple dinner invite. Rex had his suspicions about Skywalker retiring from the military, but he’d been wrong before. He’d thought Anakin would be the first Jedi to get out of military service once the war was officially over, but he ended up being one of the longest still serving, to Rex’s constant surprise. If someone had told Rex that when the end of the war finally came, his general would stop being a Jedi but keep being a member of GAR, well, he would’ve laughed in their face.

But it’s always the ones you least expect.

He tipped back in his chair and stared at the shadows playing across the ceiling as he allowed himself a rare moment of honesty here in the privacy of his office.

Ahsoka was bound to be there tonight. The call from Kenobi had confirmed she was home, or would be once they finished up whatever Jedi business that had that taken them away from the apartment.

Toward the end of the war, Rex would’ve voted her most likely to leave the Order. No hesitation. Hells, she’d almost done it once already, back when the Sith had still been pulling the strings. But when Skywalker finally fessed up to his marriage—and kids on the way—it was like a flip was switched in Ahsoka. Suddenly she was the perfect Jedi. She studied, meditated, and imparted wisdom round the clock.

They’d been close, before. At least on his end. Maybe even more than close. But no, she obviously hadn’t felt the same way. Once the campaigns slowed down to a trickle and then finally a ceasefire, she started pulling away. From him, the rest of the men, everyone. And when the Jedi were given the option to be relieved of their commands… well, Rex wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was more than a little hurt when she was first in line.

He didn’t blame her though. Ahsoka wasn’t meant for war like he was. And he didn’t know much about Jedi and what they did during peacetime, but he supposed it was plenty different than how she’d been forced to spend her apprenticeship; he wouldn’t begrudge someone the chance to escape that life. He’d just thought maybe—

It didn’t matter what he thought.

Clenching and unclenching his fists, he cycled through an old breathing technique to center himself. He hadn’t felt anxious like this without a battle on the horizon in a while. It was just dinner, he reminded himself.

A hard rap on his doorframe had Rex jerking his eyes open.

“Look sharp!”

“Asshole,” Rex muttered as the intruder sauntered in.

Cody spread his arms wide, dangling a canteen between his fingers that Rex would bet credits on didn’t hold water. “Now is that any way to greet your superior officer?”

“A technicality that I’m sure could be rectified if I reported you for whatever is in that canteen.”

“Nah, cause then you’d have to report yourself too since we’re both drinking it.”

Rex was already opening a drawer in his desk to retrieve the tumblers he kept for just this purpose. “What’s the occasion?”

Not that he objected. With the evening he had in store, maybe Cody’s whiskey reserves would help settle his nerves.

Cody popped the cap off with his thumb, then peered at him with narrowed eyes as he leaned on the back of one of the visitor chairs. “Ah, you don’t know yet.”

“Know what?”

“You talk to your general lately?”

“Heading there in a bit.”

Cody nodded, twisting his mouth as he considered something. “Do you wanna know what he’s gonna tell you? Or do you wanna wait for him?”

He eyed the canteen again. It was the same make they used during offworld campaigns and the same make he’d kept stashed in his office of the Venator they took to Mandalore during the final days of full-scale war. He pictured Ahsoka sitting next to him as they dangled their legs high above one of the landing bays, taking turns drinking straight from the mouth of one of those canteens as they celebrated their victory.

“Tell me.”

Half an hour and three fourths of a canteen later, and Rex wished he hadn’t practically sworn a blood oath to Skywalker that he’d go tonight.

“Well, shit.”

Cody snorted. That was already the third or fourth time Rex had said that. But he couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“And yours too along with them?” he asked incredulously.

His brother raised his glass with a sardonic smile. “Jumping ship, the lot of them.”

“Well, not all of them…”

“Yeah, Tano’s sticking around, I guess.” Cody took another drink, then swirled the rest of the liquid around in his glass. “Wonder if she even knows.”

Rex seared him with a hard look. “You mean they didn’t ask her?”

Cody shrugged. “Don’t think so. Kenobi said it was a joint decision, but didn’t mention Ahsoka. She’s not on the Council either and I’m guessing they won’t be advertising that part yet for security reasons.”

If she really didn’t know, she’d be devastated. He didn’t know much about her life these days, but he did know that she doted on those kids. All he could do was hope to any gods that would listen to a clone that the generals wouldn’t do that to her.

“Shit,” he said again.

“You think she’ll be okay?” Cody’s voice held a note of concern, despite his apparent acceptance of this turn of events.

“I don’t know.”

Cody looked at him askance. “What happened to you, man? You guys used to be like this—” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together.

“We used to be small?”

“Well, yes,” Cody allowed. “I remember when you were hardly bigger than a tubie, and she wasn’t much better when we met her, was she? All tiny and soft. What happened to that?”

“War happened, brother.”

“Nah, she was good by the end. Maybe a bit tired of the fighting, but who wasn’t? But you guys just… stopped.”

“She went back to being a Jedi and we went back to being soldiers.” Rex shrugged and wished he could accept that answer for himself. “Jedi aren’t meant to—”

“Form attachments. Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it. It’s a bunch of crap and you know it. Maybe that works for other Jedi, but mine and yours?” Cody shook his head, a protective edge to the way he set his jaw. “Nah, that was never gonna stick.”

Rex knew it was true deep down. Anakin had told him that he could’ve stayed in the Order if he’d wanted. They would have let him, even knowing about his strong relationships. There’d been a restructuring of the code they lived by, he’d said. Subtle—but radical, if you knew what to look for. Which made Ahsoka’s departure from his life all the harder knowing it was completely her choice.

“We grew apart.” He didn’t miss Cody’s look of pity at that. “It is what it is.”

“I’m sorry, Rex,” Cody told him seriously. There was a gleam of _knowing_ in his eyes that made Rex feel like he could see right through him. “Towards the end there, before she left the GAR, I thought that you two… Well, I'm sorry. I know you were friends.”

“Me too,” he said quietly. And maybe he meant the other thing too. The part Cody was about to say but stopped himself.

They both took another drink, then Cody set his tumbler down on the desk and stood. “Well, I should let you get to your fancy dinner party.”

Rex groaned, having forgot what awaited him for just a moment. “Wanna trade places for old times’ sake?”

“That has never worked on a Jedi.”

He ran a hand over the top of his head and scowled. “Yeah, yeah. A man can dream.”

* * *

Rex didn’t get a chance to corner Anakin until dinner was over and Padmé and Ahsoka had taken the twins to their room. He kept trying to get his attention throughout the meal, but Anakin was either oblivious or purposefully ignoring his subtle attempts to start a conversation.

“You’re leaving,” Rex said bluntly when he finally found him separated from the group. Fives was telling a loud and embellished story several paces behind them in the living room, effectively barring anyone else from hearing them.

Anakin winced, but didn’t deny it. “Yeah. Are you mad?”

Mad wasn’t what Rex would describe his feelings as. A bit sad, sure. These were his friends, practically family for years. But he knew he’d see them again.

“That depends on if you’ve told the Commander yet.”

No thought stayed hidden on Anakin’s face for too long, and his guilt in that moment wasn’t an exception. “I kept meaning to bring it up with her,” he rationalized. “But I didn’t want her to think it was her fault somehow. And so, eventually, I thought that maybe if she heard it with all of you guys, you could all be there for each other.”

Of all the stupid plans his Jedi had come up with over the years… “Anakin, and I say this as your friend—but you’re a dumbass. You all are her only family. You’re all she has!”

“Now, hey, that’s not true. She’s got the Order, she’s got you, she’s got these guys.” He gestured desperately toward Fives and the others.

“You know that’s not the same.”

He dropped his head forlornly, then turned pleading eyes on Rex. “What can I do, Rex? She won’t go with us, I know it. I’ll ask, but she’s got it in her head that she needs to fulfill her destiny as a Jedi, or whatever. I think she’s trying to make up for my mistakes. I just want her to be happy.”

“You’ve got to tell her that then.”

Anakin laughed humorlessly. “Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ll try again, but I don’t think it means that much coming from me. It’s like she thinks that she personally needs to atone for all the mistakes the Jedi made in the war.”

“What kinds of mistakes?” The Jedi weren’t perfect, Rex was well aware of that. But that wasn’t Ahsoka’s fault.

Anakin ran his hand through his hair. “Just the usual stuff that everyone says, not seeing the Sith’s influence for so long, using the clones as our military force. That kind of thing.”

“She blames herself for that?”

“Seems like it sometimes.” Anakin glanced at something over Rex’s shoulder. “They’re coming back. If she takes it badly, just—” he scrunched his nose and waved his hand airily, “I don’t know, be there for her? I don’t think she’ll wanna hear from us right away if she thinks we’re abandoning her.”

Rex sighed, but knew he couldn’t say no. “I’ll try.”

“Thanks, buddy.” He turned to go, but paused and faced Rex again. “And you’re wrong you know. She does consider you family. Just—don’t give up on her, okay?”

He gave Rex a quick pat on the shoulder without waiting for an answer, then strode over to join Padmé on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw [this joke](https://badjokesbyjeff.tumblr.com/post/644759097527386112/why-was-yoda-afraid-of-7-because-9-7-8) and immediately thought "bad jokes by Echo." His [other one](https://badjokesbyjeff.tumblr.com/post/643939222809657344/a-priest-a-baptist-minister-and-a-rabbit-walk) failed because there are probably no rabbis in star wars.


End file.
